Young Writers Society

I am am pretty good writer, but yet I am not. I actually haven't written much since I was about seven, but I want to. My only problem is, I can't write it out, if you get what I mean. I have the stories in my head, perfect, worded exactly how I want it. But when I want to write it down, I can't, and nothing works out. I was wondering, do you guys have any tips on how to get past this wall?

I just write; even if it sounds nothing like I wanted. I don't stop until my hand is tired. You'll have something, and as you write more- even if it starts out as rubbish- you might actually suddenly get inspiration and it'll be really good.

Thanks, I never thought of that.

Biv- you should remember, it won't ever be perfect on paper. I have the exact same problem. Usually I find just writing things down helps.

In my opinion, music helps. Especially deep, dark, emotional pieces

Ah, writers block, the bane of any writer. Every writer has their own way of dealing with it. Like Huff Puff said, music can help. As for me, I'm the complete opposite. I need complete silence in order to even think about what I'm going to write. Music helps me when I'm working on visual stuff like art or 3D animation, but when it comes to words any music at all will completely distract me.

The way I see it, the solution to a writers block depends on exactly what kind of block you're having. If you're having trouble thinking of a character's reaction to something, or how they should proceed through a certain situation, the best thing to do is to put yourself in that character's shoes and think about how you would act in that situation. Writers find it's easy to write about things that they know, and what else do we know better than ourselves? If the block is plot related, the best thing to do is to step away from the keyboard, or pen, and do something else for a while. Good ideas don't come instantly, you have to let your brain simmer for a while before coming back and trying again. I find that all my best ideas come to me while I'm laying in bed trying to go to sleep. You could also try doing other writing activities to help come up with new ideas or simply flex your creative muscles. I myself have learned everything I know about writing from posting in storybooks with my friends on YWS. I personally like to post something in one of the stories here on YWS as a warm-up before trying to tackle the next bit of my own novel. Find a story there you think is interesting and jump in, or start one yourself. A word of advice if you choose the latter route, make sure you have a clear idea of what direction the storybook is going to take, otherwise it'll be dead in a week.

But, if even after all that you're still having trouble, the only thing you can do at this point is simply charge in and plow through the writers block like a bulldozer through the side of a building. The worst thing you can do for a writers block is stare at your computer screen, or page whichever the case may be, and do nothing. Start writing something, anything, because once you start writing the gears in your head will start moving and you'll eventually find your muse. Don't be afraid to make mistakes in your writing. Nothing you write is permanent, you can always come back and make changes later. Even if what you write doesn't completely solve your writers block, at least you have something now to work with when before you only had a blank page in front of you.

I hope this helps.